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Tag: Luxembourg

  • Tobacco Sales Boost Luxembourg Budget

    Tobacco Sales Boost Luxembourg Budget

    Image: alexlmx

    Luxembourg’s budget will be boosted by millions of additional euros in tax revenue due to higher than anticipated tobacco sales this year, reports The Luxembourg Times.

    The government expects cigarette sales to be around 6 percent higher than originally forecast in the 2024 budget, meaning that the state could reap a total of €700 million ($763 million) alone in additional excise duties. Including all taxes, the sale of tobacco products this year is expected to generate a total of €1.4 billion for the public purse.

    The direct benefit to the government’s finances from tobacco sales is expected to increase to €1.6 billion next year and €1.9 billion in 2028.

    Luxembourg will increase excise duties on tobacco products by a further 5.5 percent from next year, Finance Minister Gilles Roth said in his budget speech last week.

    While the tax increase raises the cost of the cheapest packet of cigarettes from €5.20 to €5.50, Luxembourg remains one of the cheapest places to buy cigarettes in Western Europe.

    A pack of 25 cigarettes currently costs €8 in the Grand Duchy compared with €10 in the Netherlands and €13 in France.

    Meanwhile, revenue from new nicotine products is “difficult to estimate” for 2024, a finance ministry spokesperson said. According to initial figures, around €1 million has been collected in taxes on these products between May and September.

    Overall excise revenue across all sectors is expected to hit €2.4 billion in 2025, up from €1.89 billion just three years previously.

  • Luxembourg Urged to Hike Tobacco Prices

    Luxembourg Urged to Hike Tobacco Prices

    Photo: danimages

    Public health activists are urging Luxembourg raise tobacco prices, reports the Luxembourg Times.

    Tobacco in Luxembourg is considerably cheaper than it is in all surrounding countries, which spurs cross-border sales and supplies a steady stream of revenue to the principality.

    As much as 5 percent of Luxembourg’s treasury income is generated from tobacco sales. However, much of this is purchased by people who live in France, Belgium and Germany. A pack of cigarettes is roughly twice as expensive in France as in Luxembourg.

    Finance minister Gilles Roth noted in March that the treasury actively relies on that money, making price increases unlikely.

    Health advocates are also urging Luxembourg to tighten laws on retailer tobacco displays.

    The Fondation Cancer group believes the visibility of tobacco and nicotine products not only encourages smokers to increase their consumption but also entices young people to start smoking.

    “Tobacco products and related displays are often strategically placed at the entrances of supermarkets, near sweets and magazines or directly at checkout counters,” said Fondation’s public health liaison, Lex Schaul.

    “These high-visibility areas make the products more noticeable to young people, normalizing their consumption and downplaying the associated dangers,” he said. 

  • Luxembourg to Tax Vapes and Pouches

    Luxembourg to Tax Vapes and Pouches

    Photo: Trevor Parker Photo

    Luxembourg will start taxing e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches in October, reports RTL Today.

    Slated to take effect Oct. 1, the measures are part of a Grand Ducal regulation currently in the process of being drafted. Under this provision, e-liquids will be taxed at €120 ($129.82) per liter while nicotine pouches will incur a tax of €22 per kilo.

    Minister of Health Martine Deprez and Minister of Finance Gilles Roth disclosed this information in response to an inquiry by Member of Parliament Sven Clement of the Pirate Party.

    Luxembourg also plans to start targeting next-generation products through its anti-smoking program. Lawmakers are also mulling price increases for tobacco products, which remain considerably less expensive in Luxembourg than in neighboring countries.